Legal barriers aggravate child abuse(2)

Legal barriers

Chen Huiqi, a child protection lawyer from Guizhou Province, drove down to Bijie on Wednesday to visit Yang Xin. Chen wants to separate the girl from her family, believing her parents are both psychologically and financially incapable of raising her.

But it won't be easy.

"There are a lot of legal barriers. China's law for the protection of minors stipulates that in the case of an abusive family environment, people of interest can appeal to the court demanding the relocation of the minor. But the law is very ambiguous on that clause. It does not specify who 'people of interest' are, nor does it say where the minor should be relocated to," Chen told the Global Times.

Yang's future depends largely on the decision of the local procuratorate as to whether her injuries as severe enough to prosecute her father.

According to Chen, there are only two cases in which children can be rescued from abusive parents. The first is when a member of the family reports abuse to the court. The second is when the procuratorate is filing formal charges against the parents, in cases where a child has been severely hurt, such as losing a limb, or killed. When criminal charges are filed, they can apply to forcibly relocate the child without parental consent. For children whose cries for help fall on deaf ears among family, and who haven't yet been injured badly enough to leave permanent damage, being rescued is difficult.

Cracks in the system

Between 2008 and 2011, media reported more than 300 cases of family child abuse across the country, 160 of which involved the death of the child.

However, analysts say these are just the tip of the iceberg, and most go unreported.

This appears to be the case for 11-year-old Zhang Qing (pseudonym) from rural Beijing. Neighbors say that she lives with her family in a garage and has been forbidden to go to school or play with other children. They say she is constantly beaten by her mother and is often told to stand in front of the garage for hours as a punishment. Neighbors have reported that they often saw her rummaging through trash cans at night looking for food.

"We tried to reach out to her family but the mother is not cooperating. We want to relocate her but her injury, by law, is not severe enough to build up a criminal case," Shen Jiaying, a social worker from the Children's Hope Foundation, an NGO aimed at helping impoverished and abused children, told the Global Times.

Even if Zhang could be relocated, it would be hard to find her a new place to live.

"Orphanages usually don't admit abused children because, technically speaking, their parents are still alive and available. There is no government-sponsored shelter for them, which leaves few options," said Shen.

"It's part of Chinese culture not to meddle in other families' business. Sadly, this makes crimes within families more likely," said Zhang Xuemei.

On the same day Xinhua reported Yang's case, China's Ministry of Civil Affairs announced on Monday it will initiate a pilot program to build community children's service centers in several provinces. These centers will provide temporary care, psychological counseling and family intervention.

"I am happy to hear the news," said Shen, "Fighting to protect children from abusive parents in China is the same war against poverty, ignorance and cruelty. It's a war we cannot win without the support of the government and society."